Tyler Conta's Music Blog

Monday, June 10, 2013

Lots of underrated bands end up finding their way to my playlists. I like to surf around and find music that maybe isn't being listened to by the masses for multiple reasons. The two biggest reasons are 1.) top 40 radio is almost always a joke (they will only play one song by a fantastic artist or they'll overplay a good song until you hate it) and 2.) I want to support musicians and artists that create amazing music but they aren't known to millions simply because they don't have a #1 hit, a huge record contract, or a sold-out U.S. tour. One of my biggest sources for music is actually an Australian radio station that is almost always cranking out great music and playing songs that don't become a hit in America for several more weeks or months...and sometimes never. They're ahead of the curve. They were the station that introduced me to Gotye, and Macklemore, before they were even close to having a nationwide American top 40 hit that caused it to be so overplayed it ruined it for most music lovers. I like to be ahead of the curve because of that. I was able to enjoy "Thrift Shop" and "Somebody That I Used to Know" to its fullest, then it came on the radio, I still enjoyed rocking out for a little bit, then I felt saturated with that song and I moved on before it got to be too much for me and ruined it all. That might make no sense to some people, but I don't care. It makes sense to the way I think and feel about music. I'm discussing this now because one thing I've noticed recently, that is bringing some fantastic music to the public other than top 40 radio, is iTunes...yes iTunes. They've had some great songs for free recently such as one by the living legend himself, Eric Clapton. They even had Atlas Genius, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, and now Bastille. Bastille just put out an EP about 2 weeks ago, yet in early March they released a full album that debuted at #1 on the U.K. charts. Sadly, that full album is not available in the U.S. because we're dumb. Well I actually don't know why it's unavailable in the U.S. It's frustrating, but then here came along iTunes offering a free song of theirs a few weeks ago, introducing me to the band, and allowing me to quickly appreciate their music and crave the full "Bad Blood" album while having to settle for the phenomenal "Haunt" EP. I'll survive. Hopefully you all will enjoy this song of theirs as much as I do and whenever they do a full U.S. tour (other than 2 dates in Cali) we can all attend and have an incredible time.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

This song is close to a year old yet I just heard it for the first time in January and shared it with my former roommate Chris, who is currently in Miami and heading to New Orleans soon. So obviously he'll be getting a visit from me soon since NOLA is sort of my favorite city in the world and all that jazz. No pun intended. But this is a song from a French group that just makes you want to move, that I shared with a guy who is moving to a city that just makes you want to party. So I hope yall enjoy rocking out to this as much as I did.

Friday, May 31, 2013

This post is simply to share a song that has been stuck in my head recently, having made its way back into my circulation randomly. Thanks "shuffle." It's a great tune which is the bonus track from this band's 2012 release that I really enjoyed. Still a great album and I hope you enjoy this song by First Aid Kit.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

I have no problem admitting that I was initially hesitant in listening to this album before its "official release." Especially since this album was intended to be available for live streaming, regardless. Yet, it leaked early, people got a hold of it and posted it everywhere online. I wanted to try to be a good music listener, try to stay true to the artist's intentions...but who cares, it was going up anyways for free streaming.

The ENTIRE album. FREE. INTENTIONALLY.

So no point in being a snob or trying to act holier-than-thou.

My next hurdle was the fact that I have a hard time listening to Daft Punk, Justice, Ratatat, RJD2, etc etc while I sit still. I hear it and I just want to dance and rage and get on my feet. After deliberating for way too long, I finally decided to go and stream the new Daft Punk album. "Randon Access Memories" is still up for live streaming, so go listen now if you haven't. It's definitely worth the listen. Guy-Manuel and Thomas have created yet another musical masterpiece. Is it too early to call it "masterpiece?" It's Daft Punk. Come on, son.

Now go listen and enjoy this since the album is officially released tomorrow in certain countries. Go to their artist page in iTunes and click on "Listen Now" to stream the entire album.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Just a few months ago I became aware of this band's existence due to a simple Spotify playlist. I really got into their stuff pretty quickly after that. I'm pretty pumped to be seeing them play live this summer and I can't wait to tell you all about it. Here's a song from their recent album which was released in the fall in the U.S. Enjoy!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

I haven't blogged in weeks. So what. Get off my back. I've been a busy guy and there have actually been periods of time recently where I haven't had time to listen to music for several days, which is weird for me. So I'm obviously looking forward to seeing Radical Face tomorrow at Friday Cheers as they open for The Lone Bellow. I saw The Lone Bellow open for Ivan & Alyosha a few weeks ago with my great friend Becky and now we're going again to see The Lone Bellow headline at Friday Cheers in Richmond. In a few more weeks there is another amazing band playing Friday Cheers as well. Seeing fantastic bands like these ones make me really proud of RVA and also get me really pumped to go see them play outdoors, at night, under the train tracks, by the canal, with a cold drink in my hand and a bunch of friends nearby as I stand and dance to the music or sit on the grass and relax. Coming to Richmond in a few weeks to play is The Head and the Heart. The song here is a great one from their debut studio album that was released in 2011. Previously I used "Lost in My Mind" as a SOTM tune but this one might be one I like even better. I hope you do too. Also, go to YouTube and check out some of the cool live versions they do of this tune. Enjoy!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

A few months ago I blogged a song by this band. It is still one of my favorite tracks to listen to. They released this song here relatively recently but sadly this band doesn't appear to be blowing up like I felt they would (and should) so finding some of their songs online is tough at times. I'm looking at you, Spotify. Anyways, enjoy this new song from London Grammar's recently released EP.